We were really lucky to have met Arleta and Arlena as they invited us to share a rental car and explore the Uruguayan coastline with them. We got a car from Avis for 54USD which is way cheaper than a bus and awards much more freedom. The coastline is dotted with loads of beach towns, the most famous being Punta del Este which attracts thousands of visitors in the summer including South America’s most elite. This time of year it’s pretty quiet but very beautiful. We stopped off to see Chilean artist, Mario Irarrázabal’s sculpture La Mano on Playa Brava which was pretty cool and with people surfing nearby and the glitzy apartment blocks in the background it was obvious that this is a serious spot in the summer time. 

We kept driving East in search of Lagunas and sealions but every time we got to a park it was closed! It was a gorgeous drive nonetheless, the Uruguayan countryside is beautiful and as the sun set we had some awesome views. 

Eventually we reached Punta del Diablo which is a much simpler town than Punta del Este. The restaurants and bars along the seafront were essentially shacks and although everything was closed you could sense that this place also buzzed in the summer months. The beach was the nicest one we’d seen so far and I made a quiet promise to myself that I’d come back some day in the sunshine. 

As there was nowhere to eat in Punta del Diablo we kept driving to the border town of Chuy to get some dinner – pizza again! We said goodbye to the girls as they were driving back to their hostel in Punta del Diablo and we waited for our midnight bus that would take us to Porto Alegre. 

The coastal drive was stunning – the only bad thing about it was the cold temperature!